Newsletter Archives

• Opal becomes Obsidian

  Posted on July 24, 2023 at 02:43 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  HARDWARE DIY

  

  By Will Fastie

  In this final article about building my new Windows 11 PC, I reveal a surprising change.

  It’s taken quite a long time for my new Windows 11 PC to get to the point when it could become my daily driver. I admit to some sloth. Worse, I confess to some confusion.

  Nonetheless, the unexpected delay in the project has been a worthwhile learning experience.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.30.0, 2023-07-24).

  Hardware ASUS, Corsair, DIY, hardware, HDDs, Migration, Motherboards, Newsletters, Noctua

• TrueNAS and Windows together

  Posted on July 10, 2023 at 02:43 CDT by Ben Myers • Comment in the Forums

  HARDWARE DIY

  

  By Ben Myers

  TrueNAS is installed, so let’s put it to work in the world of Windows.

  My first article about TrueNAS left everyone on the edges of their seats, excitedly wanting to see how TrueNAS becomes part of a small network to be used as a local repository for our personal information.

  Edge of your seat? Okay, probably not. But it was the best place to split a project article in two. I left you hanging at the TrueNAS Dashboard, the starting point for any and all actions needed to make TrueNAS useful.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.28.0, 2023-07-10).

  Hardware DIY, NAS, Network Storage, Newsletters, TrueNAS

• Setting up your own cloud

  Posted on June 26, 2023 at 02:44 CDT by Ben Myers • Comment in the Forums

  HARDWARE DIY

  

  By Ben Myers

  I began a pilot project to see what a NAS (Network Attached Storage) computer could do to improve data backup and management here.

  We have the usual collection of flash memory sticks and USB drives — and maybe, just maybe, we are not proactive with saving important information. It makes no sense to pay an annual rental for a Windows server license. There are several Linux distributions built for the specific purpose of hosting a NAS. Each of them, once installed, provides administration through the browser of a computer connected to one’s local area network.

  Sounds easy, doesn’t it?

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.26.0, 2023-06-26).

  Hardware DIY, hardware, NAS, Network, Newsletters, RAID

• Fixing Onyx’s RAID 1 failure — second drive

  Posted on June 26, 2023 at 02:41 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  HARDWARE DIY

  

  By Will Fastie

  In our May bonus issue, I wrote about fixing Onyx’s RAID 1 failure.

  There was one task left. I had replaced the failed drive in the mirror with a new Seagate FireCuda drive, but I did not want to install the second without giving the first drive time to burn in. In this brief article, I describe that final task.

  It went as expected.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.26.0, 2023-06-26).

  Hardware DIY, hardware, Intel RST, Newsletters, RAID 1

• Storage Spaces or Intel Rapid Storage?

  Posted on June 12, 2023 at 02:43 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  HARDWARE DIY

  

  By Will Fastie

  My plan to use Storage Spaces on Opal hit a speed bump.

  In my recent article Windows Storage Spaces (2023-05-22), I described my experiment with Opal, in which I decided to replace the RAID array created by Intel Rapid Storage with the same type of array created by Storage Spaces. My reaction was generally positive, although I did complain about the UI.

  My opinion has changed. I’ll be reverting to Intel Rapid Storage.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.24.0, 2023-06-12).

  Hardware DIY, hard drives, hardware, Intel RST, Newsletters, RAID, Storage Spaces

• Windows Storage Spaces

  Posted on May 22, 2023 at 02:43 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  HARDWARE DIY

  

  By Will Fastie

  I decided to try Storage Spaces on Opal, just to see what it would be like.

  It’s a mixed bag. On the one hand, it’s less technically challenging than the Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RST) solution that lives partly in UEFI and partly in a Windows driver. On the other hand, it’s a work in progress, with some confusing configuration steps.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.21.0, 2023-05-22).

  Hardware DIY, Newsletters, RAID, RAID 1, Storage Spaces, Windows

• The pros and cons of RAID 1

  Posted on May 1, 2023 at 02:45 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 20.18 • 2023-05-01

  HARDWARE

  

  By Will Fastie

  Revisiting an old friend, it’s time to update our thinking about RAID 1.

  In our all-too-brief time working together, Fred Langa and I had only one point of disagreement — RAID (redundant array of inexpensive drives). Our bone of contention dealt with RAID level 1, the “mirror.” That’s the focus of this, our spring bonus edition of the newsletter.

  Following this brief explanation, I’ll provide an update on the RAID situation with two of my PCs, Onyx and Opal.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.18.0, 2023-05-01).

  Hardware DIY, Drive Mirrors, Newsletters, RAID, RAID 1

• Fixing Onyx’s RAID 1 failure

  Posted on May 1, 2023 at 02:44 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  HARDWARE DIY

  

  By Will Fastie

  Before I was able to decommission Onyx, my daily driver desktop PC, one of my hard drives failed. Hard.

  Why the hard failure? Because I didn’t take my own advice — to replace hard drives every five years. The two Seagate drives in Onyx’s RAID 1 array were built in 2014 and put into service in 2015.

  One of the drives failed nine months ago, so it lasted seven years — two years later than when I should have replaced it. Fortunately, Onyx is modern enough to have a good RAID system, from Intel. The fix was remarkably easy and, for the most part, automated.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.18.0, 2023-05-01).

  Hardware DIY, Drive Mirrors, Intel RST, Newsletters, RAID, RAID 1

• Configuring RAID 1 for Opal

  Posted on May 1, 2023 at 02:43 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  HARDWARE DIY

  

  By Will Fastie

  The last stumbling block in my quest to bring Opal, my new desktop PC, online has been resolved.

  Back when I was building Opal, my new PC to run Windows 11, I ran into a problem configuring two 6TB drives as a RAID 1 array. I struggled with that, which surprised me because it was relatively easy setting up the mirror on my original box, Onyx.

  I let Opal lie fallow. My excuse was that my wife had acquired her Lenovo Yoga, which was happily running Windows 11 Pro. That gave me access to a machine when I needed to deal with a Windows 11 topic for this newsletter. The delay that ensued turned out to have been a good thing.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.18.0, 2023-05-01).

  Hardware DIY, Drive Mirrors, Intel RST, Intel Storage Management, Newsletters, RAID, RAID 1

• Special Edition: Building Opal

  Posted on January 3, 2022 at 02:45 CST by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  ISSUE 19.01 • 2022-01-03

  EDITORIAL

  

  By Will Fastie

  Our writers have the week off.

  The AskWoody newsletters are published 48 times per year, leaving four Mondays on which we would have no issue. Last year we tried an experiment on one of those off Mondays, reprinting a few articles that we thought you would like to see in one place.

  That experiment went well; your feedback was positive. We ended up doing it twice last year and now we’re doing it again.

  This time, we’re bringing you the four published articles about Opal, my new Windows 11 PC DIY build. That is complemented with a brief new piece in which I describe my lack of progress.

  We hope you like it!

  Read the full AskWoody Plus Newsletter 19.01.0 (2022-01-03).
  Read the full AskWoody Free Newsletter 19.01.F (2022-01-03).

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Hardware AskWoody Plus Newsletter, DIY, hardware

• Opal: The Update

  Posted on January 3, 2022 at 02:44 CST by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  HARDWARE DIY

  

  By Will Fastie

  It hasn’t gone as smoothly as I had hoped.

  Maybe I’ve just been lucky. Maybe I’m getting older and slower. Or dumber. Whatever it is, I’ve run into some problems getting Opal up and running.

  I’ve done the basic configuration steps and I’ve installed Windows 10 Pro. The computer is running fine. The UEFI BIOS sees all the hardware and I think I’ve done the RAID 1 configuration correctly. So what’s the problem?

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 19.01.0 (2022-01-03).
  This story also appears in the AskWoody Free Newsletter 19.01.F (2022-01-03).

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Hardware AskWoody Plus Newsletter, ASUS, DIY, hardware, Motherboards

• Opal: Physical assembly – the case

  Posted on October 25, 2021 at 02:43 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  HARDWARE DIY

  

  By Will Fastie

  Obviously, everything ends up going into the case.

  Last week, I discussed the assembly steps necessary to prepare Opal’s new motherboard. That process included installing the processor, the cooler’s mount, the RAM, and the SSD. Now it’s time to talk about getting the motherboard into the case, along with all the other components that make up the system.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.41.0 (2021-10-25).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Hardware AskWoody Plus Newsletter, DIY, hardware, Motherboards
• « Older Entries